It’s amazing to see how art has evolved throughout the years. From collage art with newspaper cuttings, Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973), to futuristic paintings and abstract art, Fernand Leger (1881-1955). One talented member of our team has her own way of portraying art, using various still life techniques; pastels, oil paint, charcoal and newspaper cuttings in her experimental pieces. 

Collage, tooth paste,tooth brush, cup and container (2002)

 

 

Hat,walking stick,pipe and clothes on stool (2002)

 

Hat, glasses,pipe and walking stick oil painting (2002)

 

Hat, pipe and walking stick using pastel (2002) 

 

Vegetable painting using complementary colours (2002)

Living in London it seems almost impossible not to be bombarded with human contact. On the tube, in the streets, in the 45 minute queue for the new restaurant that just opened around the corner — we live with very little time truly on our own. However, despite this constant connectivity with those around us, our minds tend to seek out faces in the inanimate objects which provide a backdrop to our social interactions. Is this the Hollywood problem of the persistence of loneliness and anonymity within the presence of crowds, or are our minds just innately programmed this way?

 

Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon involving the perception of patterns, most especially those pertaining to faces, where none actually exist. Our brains love to find patterns. It helps us reduce uncertainty and it makes sense of our experiences with the world around us. Pareidolia has long been the associated reason for this, however a Japanese study conducted in 2015 has developed an alternative explanation suggesting that people with the ability to see these faces maybe especially neurotic. The study, which was presented at Paris' annual Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, forms connections between specific personality types and emotional characteristics with its subjects' abilities to distinguish faces. The results suggested a strong connection between neurotic personalities and facial recognition.

 

So the question raised is — are you neurotic?
Have a look at the images below and if you can see faces... I think we both know the answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On New Cross Road, on the edge of Goldsmiths' campus, in the low ceilinged basement of a café, a new gallery space has opened called Castor Projects.

Their first show is presented in the dark, the pieces are lit with UV lights and the paints reflect this single channel light with a fluorescent glow. The paintings, made with cut canvases, are complex gradiated tones, something digital and something sci-fi but are definitely of our digitally social world. 

The show is just interesting, it is an experience, bold and definitely not the norm — a little secret in London that needs to be shared.

Images courtesy of Castor Projects — castorprojects.co.uk